Certain surgical procedures, for example, lobectomy, nephrectomy, cystectomy, etc., involve the removal of a tissue specimen from the interior of a patient's body. The tissue specimen to be removed may include, for example, an organ or portion thereof that is damaged, diseased, or tumorous. The affected tissue may be surgically cut and removed from the body using either conventional or minimally invasive surgery.
Conventional surgery (i.e., open surgery) requires large areas of the patient's body to be cut open in order to provide the surgeon with access to the affected tissue. In contrast, minimally invasive surgery (e.g., laparoscopy, endoscopy) utilizes narrow, elongated instruments to access the affected tissue through relatively small incisions. It is often preferable to use minimally invasive surgical techniques in order to reduce trauma and recovery time for the patient. Some techniques involve, for example, inserting a specimen bag into the patient's body through an access incision, placing the bag around the tissue to be removed, and withdrawing the bag containing the tissue from the patient's body. The specimen bag may include a drawstring closure and may further be connected to specialized equipment for manipulating the bag. Various surgical techniques and devices have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,037,379, 5,215,521, 8,172,772, 8,486,087, 8,777,961, 9,005,215, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0138587 A1, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0124927 A1, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0232423 A1, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2013/0184536 A1, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0325025 A1, each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
A difficulty that may be encountered during certain minimally invasive surgical procedures occurs when the tissue specimen to be removed is significantly larger than the access incision. Under these circumstances the access incision may be enlarged or a new incision may be required in order to allow passage and retrieval of the tissue specimen, however, such steps would increase the trauma to the patient. Another method involves cutting or morcellating the tissue specimen into smaller pieces in the specimen bag until the fragmented tissue can be removed through the access incision. However, this method can result in further complications, such as rupturing of the specimen bag by the cutting or morcellating tool. Moreover, when the tissue being cut or morcellated is cancerous, there may also be an increased risk of spreading cancer cells during such procedures.
A further method for tissue removal is described in Mitsuhiro Kamiyoshihara et al., “A useful technique for specimen extraction from the thorax: the vacuum-packing method,” European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 0 (2012) pp. 1-3, which is also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. According to this method a sucker is inserted into the opening of the specimen bag to suck out liquid and air from the bag in order to collapse the bag containing the tissue specimen, the collapsed bag being withdrawn from the patient as the bag is being suctioned. Since the sucker extends through the bag opening, a drawback of the method described by Kamiyoshihara et al. is that it may be difficult to create and sustain a sufficient seal to allow for proper vacuuming to occur. Having to add binding material around the bag and sucker to create a proper seal adds further to the complication of the procedure. Moreover, there is a risk that insertion of the sucker or other tools into the bag could puncture or tear the bag.